Golf: Sudden death showdown decides winner

The end, when it came, was swift in its brutality.
Primed by a gallery of 60 people who appeared out of nowhere to witness the almost gladiatorial show, Tauranga's Eddie Burgess yesterday earned his pennant team an unlikely spot in Sunday's Bay of Plenty championship title-decider against Omanu.
Burgess was handed the win on a plate in the sudden-death showdown when Mt Maunganui's Brad Kendall three-putted the 1st green at Mt Maunganui from five metres moments after his rival had made par.
Kendall and Burgess had battled through 16 holes in Sunday's semifinal, with Kendall winning 3 and 2 as the teams finished deadlocked on six wins each.
Darkness forced the sudden-death play-off to be fought out yesterday, with Burgess racing from Te Puke, where he is stationed as a police constable, and Kendall, an apprentice electrician, arriving on the 1st tee with a few minutes to spare.
Kendall, New Zealand amateur strokeplay champion last year, pounded his ball down the first fairway, a booming 265m drive, while Burgess, the 2000 national champion who had a shortlived career as a pro, blocked his tee shot right, although he was relieved to find it sitting nicely in the rough. "I half expected to get down there and find it in the trees so I guess it took a lucky hop left."
Both lobbed onto the green, with Burgess leaving himself an 8m downhill putt which he missed right, and Kendall a 5m uphill chance. With most expecting he'd finish the play-off there and then with birdie, Kendall pushed his first putt a metre past the hole and lipped out with the return, more than slightly ironic given it was Kendall's hot putter that was the difference between the pair on Sunday.
"No-one ever likes to profit like that but I'm sure there's seven other boys in the (Tauranga) team who'll take it," Burgess said. "I'd imagine Brad doesn't open up doors like that too often."
Burgess, a seasoned campaigner with a laconic demeanour, was surprised to pull into the Mount carpark to be greeted by a big gallery. "I thought it'd me me, Brad and a couple of walkers - maybe it shows how many people are interested in golf. I was in that much of a rush to get away from work and here on time I didn't have time to get nervous; a couple of practice swings on the tee and we were into it."
Burgess was an obvious choice for captain George Kinghorn for the playoff, while Kendall's promotion was also an obvious choice on the back of some good recent form from the national Srixon academy player.
Burgess and Kendall weren't the only ones under the blowtorch yesterday - juniors Noel Tamati (Hamurana) and Shane Ward (Mt Maunganui) were also in play-off mode after their semifinal finished 3-3 with three matches still in progress on the course when the gloom became too much.
And, like the championship shootout, the junior playoff was over just as quick after Tamati binned a 4m birdie on the 1st hole to send his team into Sunday's final against Waiotapu Valley.
Burgess hasn't looked ahead to the final, which he thought was next month. He isn't even sure yet he'll get time off work to play.